''Quest for Glory III: Wages Of War'' (1992) is the third game in the ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory series''. After saving Shapeir and being adopted as the Prince of Shapeir, a title which he is subsequently identified by, the Hero follows the paladin Rakeesh back to his Liontaur homeland of Tarna, a land inspired by ancient Egyptian and African myth.

The area is home to 3 different civilizations: the city-state of Tarna, a city built by humans now ruled and dominated by the Liontaurs, (and whose king is Rakeesh's younger brother Rajah) where all other races are effectively 2nd class citizens, their allies the Simbani, a tribe of humans who live on the savannah and migrate with their herds depending on the season, and the Leopardmen, shapeshifting magic users that dwell in the jungle and are the traditional enemies of the Simbani, who fear and distrust magic.

In recent days war has been brewing between the Simbani and the Leopardmen, and adding to the tension is the fact that Tarna sent a delegation to gets the sides to agree to a truce, only for the delegation to be mysteriously slaughtered. Only a single human from the delegation manages to make it back to Tarna, and his claw wounds lead nearly everybody to suspect the Leopardmen of being at fault. Meanwhile, the leader of the delegation, Rakeesh's daughter, is missing.

With the seemingly inevitable conflict looming, the hero will have to act quickly to familiarize himself with the opposing sides, the beautiful and dangerous land he finds himself in, and to investigate Rakeesh's suspicions that an old and dangerous foe is secretly pulling the strings and manipulating all sides into war.

----!!This game provides examples of the following tropes:

* AbdicateTheThrone: We find out that Rakeesh has done this before the events of the second game, leaving his brother Rajah in his place.* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: The Apothecary charges ''much'' more than the one in the previous game, forcing you to buy one pill for about the same price you could've gotten three or more before. Fortunately, the pills you buy in the second game carry over when you import your character, so you can always stock up on as many as you can buy before you leave Shapeir.* AnachronismStew: The Junk Dealers flat out admit that the stuff they're selling acts as this in their sales pitch (while offering to sell you a WWI-era gas mask.)* AsYouKnow: Used word-for-word by Aziza in the intro. Which is especially silly since she's telling the hero about all the things he did in the second game as if he didn't experience them himself. Furthermore, this intro does a RetCon of the [=QFG2=] ending.* BigCreepyCrawlies: Giant ants that will attack you in the savannah.* BloodierAndGorier: Deaths (both the enemies and the player's) are a little more graphic than before.* CharacterFocus: The Fighter class gets the most focus in this game, thanks to the Simbani Rite of Manhood. Wizards get to make a magic staff and fight a WizardDuel with the Leopardmen's Shaman, while Thieves get it worst since there's no Guild and only two houses to rob ([[spoiler:the Simbani Laibon's and the Leopardman Chief's]]), both of which are plot-required. Paladins, naturally, get the Fighter's quests plus very tiny extra bits here and there.* CherryTapping: You can pick up rocks at any time when you're outside and hurl them for minimal damage. Naturally, this means it's possible (but very difficult) to kill even a dinosaur by pelting it with enough rocks.* TheCommandments: Tarna's legal system. They're pretty basic, though. Don't steal. Don't hurt anyone. Don't use magic. Act with honor[[note]]The Liontaur version of honor and the paladin version of honor don't always gel, and sometimes Tarna's "act with honor" comes off very strange. If, for example, you break one of the first three laws, you'll be in trouble. If you ''deny'' breaking the law when you're obviously guilty, your sentence is ''much'' harsher than if you had repented[[/note]].* ContinuityNod: When you talk to Salim Naffs, the Apothecarist, you have the option to tell about your exploits in Shapeir, leading him to become the one that frees Julanar, the woman that got trapped in a tree by a Djinn, as his dreams were telling him to.** Before you leave Shapeir in the second game, Shema gives the player a letter to give to her nephew Shallah if he ever meets him. Sure enough, Shallah can be found selling wood carvings at the bazaar in Tarna, and giving him the letter has him give you a wood carving of a leopard for free.* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Rakeesh points out fairly early in the game that Paladins, the Liontaurs of Tarna, and the Simbani have different definitions of "honor." Most notably, helping Harami is contrary to the Liontaurs' definition of honor, but ''not'' helping him is contrary to the Paladins' definition of honor. For the purpose of the game's stats, "Honor" focuses on the Paladin vision of honor.** Rakeesh's own background illustrates this: Stepping down from the throne to become a Paladin to oppose the demon sorcerer is an act that many younger Liontaurs don't understand because it does not fit the Liontaur version of honor. As does Rakeesh's insistence to look for a peaceful end to the conflict. Two city guards will argue about this, with the older supportive of Rakeesh's action and the younger seeing him as a coward.** Becoming initiated into the Simbani tribe requires recognizing a key difference in values. To a western, particularly American person, it's natural to value individuality, and competitions are won by proving oneself to be the best performer. If you pay attention to the Simbani stories told during your stay in the village, however, you'll notice a consistent theme where the highest values are cooperation within the tribe and [[TheNeedsOfTheMany putting the needs of the tribe first]]. The Simbani, after all, are trying to survive in a difficult and often hostile environment and need to know they can rely on each other no matter what. So while it may seem natural to pass Yesufu during the situation listed under DudleyDoRightStopsToHelp and expect to be rewarded for performing better than he did, to the Simbani it's an act of unconscionable selfishness or a sign of amorality, and will make them want to have nothing to do with someone who'd throw a fellow tribesman under the bus for his own desire. Hence the NonStandardGameOver if you don't help Yesufu.* DemonicPossession: The demons can do this to any host, as it seems.* DimensionLord: Although details on him are sparse, the Demon Lord appears to be this, ruling the [[FireAndBrimstoneHell hell dimension]] that the demons come from. The instant it emerges into the mortal world, it destroys all of Tarna.* DistractedByTheSexy: Uhura notes that's one of the things to watch out for when boys and girls spar each other on the Wrestling Bridge. Doesn't help that the sparring involves a lot of bouncing. * DreamSequence: Happens in the Temple of Sekhmet in Tarna. It's a [[PlayerPersonalityQuiz test of character]] and a [[DreamingOfThingsToCome prophetic vision]] rolled into one, unless of course you fail the test.* DrugsAreBad: If the hero uses the bong too many times In TheStoner's shop, the hero becomes a homeless burned-out drug addict and dies.* DudleyDoRightStopsToHelp: The Fighter/Paladin has to become a member of the local tribe in order to advance the plot. However, your friend Yesufu is also participating in the InitiationCeremony, and there's only room for one. At a pre-scripted point in the race, Yesufu is hurt and the proper response is to help him up. As it's later revealed that the entire point of the ceremony is to teach a lesson about [[ThePowerOfFriendship supporting your friends and tribe]], not stopping to help just gets you [[WhatTheHellHero chewed out]] and a NonStandardGameOver.* EasterEgg: Lots.** If you set up camp near the mountains, there's a chance you'll encounter Arne Saknoosen the "earth pig" (a ShoutOut to ''ComicBook/CerebusTheAardvark'') in the middle of the night.** If you wander around out in the savannah without food for long enough, you'll eventually be assaulted by the Awful Waffle Walker, a giant waffle that won't leave you alone until you eat it.** The player can actually smoke the hookah pipe in the apothecary by using the tinderbox on it. Doing so three times triggers a NonStandardGameOver.** Very rarely, when you use the dispel potion on the captive leopardman[[note]]Doing it at night might be a requirement[[/note]], the hero will do an EyePop during the cutscene. This almost sounds like an UrbanLegendOfZelda to get people to keep pointlessly reloading saves over and over. [[https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/466x280q90/46/p4fw.jpg Except it's not. And its split-second suddenness will probably terrify you.]]** You can also come across [[LaurelAndHardy Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy]] straight out of Beau Hunks... another fine mess indeed.* EvilGloating: If you're a Paladin, you get a [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech demoralizing speech]] at the very end. None of the other classes get the same consideration.* ExtremeDoormat: Kalb the meat merchant; he'll accept '''any''' price you offer for his wares, no matter what your Communication skill is, and will never complain. There's no reason not to take advantage of his spinelessness; it doesn't even count against you on the KarmaMeter.* [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Everything's Worse with Dinosaurs]]: The natives call it [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Running Death]]. * FalseFlagOperation: Rakeesh and Kreesha suspect that demons are trying to incite war between the Simbani and Leopardman. This comes to a head when [[spoiler: one of them possesses the Leopardman Chief at the peace conference and murders the Laibon]].* FantasticRacism: The Liontaurs engage in this towards almost everyone. It's actually not as bad as it used to be, and it's commented that recently significant rights have been granted to humans and other non-Liontaurs in Tarna, (thanks in large part to a few advocates like Rakeesh's wife) but even so the city and its laws are under the absolute control of the Liontaurs, and there are large sections of the city reserved solely for the Liontaurs. A human wandering into those areas would be in very significant danger.* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Of Africa, savanna and jungle varieties alike. * FissionMailed: Light a fire, then walk away from it. Only YOU can prevent savanna fires!* FiveManBand: The group that takes on the demons at the end alongside The Hero.** TheLeader: The Hero.** TheLancer: Yesufu, a loyal friend and FriendlyRival who competes with The Hero for the affections of Johari.** TheBigGuy: Reeshaka, a capable liontaur warrior.** TheSmartGuy: Johari, the team's spellcaster and shapeshifter, who comes from a tribe that prides themselves on cleverness and wits.** TheChick[=/=]TeamMom: Uhura, who along with Rakeesh has always been doubtful about engaging in conflict between the Simbani and Leopardmen, and who gives The Hero advice about many matters.** TheMentor[=/=]TeamDad: Rakeesh, who has been a mentor to The Hero across multiple games.** SixthRanger: Harami the thief, who at first refuses to help the group but [[EleventhHourRanger saves The Hero at the last moment]] from his EvilKnockoff.** TeamPet: Manu the talking monkey.* FrazettaMan: The inhabitants of the Lost City.* GameBreakingBug: Several. Not as bad as the next game, but still annoying at times.* GenericDoomsdayVillain: [[spoiler:The Demon Wizard trying to summon his master into the world is understandable, but why he has to start a war between the Simbani and Leopardman is rather thin and only explained by a throwaway line at the very end of the game. The deaths caused by the war will somehow power up the MacGuffin that will allow his master to cross over. Even though the MacGuffin had to be used and drained of power as part of his schemes to start the war in the first place... oh, and to get revenge on Rakeesh, of course.]]* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Janna Jamir's (the Welcome Woman at the inn) dialog when you flirt with her, holy crap! She rivals [[VideoGame/QuestForGloryII Nawar]] with the spiciness of some of her innuendo.--> '''Janna:''' It is not just the room you warm with your sunshine, oh prince of passion. Your words inflame my cheeks, and other places.* GreaterScopeVillain: The BigBad you face off against in the end is just TheDragon trying to unleash his SealedEvilInACan Demonlord master.* HaveANiceDeath: Par for the course, but BloodierAndGorier than in other installments. Compiled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIm0BJ2eQwI here]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIJPEPFL1Z0 there]].* HoistByHisOwnPetard: ** When you start winning the WizardDuel, the Leopardman Shaman will invoke a Demon; if you cure him with a Dispel Potion rather than killing him, he thanks you for saving him from his own rash stupidity.** As a Wizard, overpowering the Demon Wizard will make him steal your magic staff right from your hands. It seems like a good move on his part... until you remember the spell that Kreesha [[SelfDestructMechanism warned you to never cast on the staff]].* HollywoodDarkness: The game uses your standard day-for-night technique to depict nighttime (with a few exceptions, like the inside of the inn.)* HopelessBossFight: The hero can't beat his evil counterpart in the mirror fight. [[ChekhovsGunman Harami the thief]] takes up his place.* LateArrivalSpoiler: The AsYouKnow at the beginning of this game tells you how to complete the previous game.* LostForever: As a Fighter/Paladin, the leopardman prisoner shows up in the cage if your strength stat improved enough. However, if this happens too quickly you'll miss out some game points such as making friends with Yesufu and listening to the Storyteller.* LostWorld: The lost city beyond the waterfall. It's inhabited by apemen and [[spoiler: demons]].* LudicrousGibs: Happens when the Wizard triggers his staff at the end, blasting the Demon Wizard to smithereens. His decapitated head even rolls near the hero, who kicks it for fun.* MagicStaff: Wizards get the opportunity to create one. A case of AwesomeButImpractical, since it feels awesome to finally have your own unlimited supply of Mana, but it is not usable in close combat and you can only pelt so much spells at distance. Plus, the Demon Wizard steals it from you, forcing you to destroy it via DangerousForbiddenTechnique: casting Trigger and releasing all the Mana in it in one very pretty explosion.* MightyWhitey: If you are a fighter, you must win the contest to become a Simbani warrior, and naturally you quickly surpass any of the Simbani in the skills they respect (except running). Justified in that many of these skills were ones that had already helped you become a famous hero. Also, you, the human player will need good hand-eye coordination.** Wizards do the same with the Leopardmen, demonstrating superior magic and/or cunning to that of their most powerful mage, the Shaman.* MiniGame: ** Bridge wrestling. If you set the difficulty to higher, you must control your hero's moves while a lower difficult let the computer handle the moves for you.** Spear throwing.** Playing Awari.* MirrorMatch: An area in the Lost City summons evil counterparts to you and your friends.* MixAndMatchCritters: [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes Winged Cobras!]]** There's also the Meer''bats''.* MoneyForNothing: Zig-zagged. You're given more than enough money at the start of the game to buy everything you need for the rest of the game. If, however, you ''do'' run out of money (probably from needing to buy more of the game's prohibitively-expensive potions) then you're in some serious trouble because only three enemies types in the entire game drop money and it's in very piddling amounts.* MysteryMeat: The Meat Seller sells mystery meat as rations.** He'll tell you what's in it if you ask, but YouDoNotWantToKnow.* NationalGeographicNudity* NewAgeRetroHippie: The apothecary.* NoGuyWantsAnAmazon: Women in Uhura's tribe have to choose between being a warrior and being a mother. Good thing she decided to TakeAThirdOption. Specifically, leaving the tribe, finding a decent man outside, and coming back with the baby, but still being unmarried, so no one can claim her as a wife in her tribe.* OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo: Kind of. "Wages of War" was not supposed to exist and was inserted for storyline and character reasons, as the creators felt the hero was not strong enough yet for the events of "Shadows of Darkness". You can see evidence of this in the original version of ''Trial By Fire'', which ends with the sequel hook for ''Shadows of Darkness'', which ultimately ended up being the fourth game.* ParentalMarriageVeto: When Yesufu expresses interest in marrying the Leopard Lady, his father sets the bride price prohibitively high (for a Simbani) specifically to prevent this.* PettingZooPeople: The Leopard People. There's also the Crocmen who wander the savannah, but they're borderline PettingZooPeople on the SlidingScaleOfAnthropomorphism.* PlayerPersonalityQuiz: During the aforementioned DreamSequence, you have to answer three multiple-choice questions. Each question has a straightforward answer, a compassionate answer, a devious (but still heroic) answer, an intelligent answer, and an evil/joke answer (in that order). You will be judged by three separate criteria:** Whether you choose an evil/joke answer: If you do, you are automatically judged unworthy.** Whether or not at least one of the icons you selected matches your class, to determine whether your skills are in harmony with your nature or not: The sword or fist for the Fighter, the heart for the Paladin, the pentacle or infinity sign for the Wizard, or the key for the Thief.** Which answers you choose: if you choose the same type of answer (straightforward, compassionate, devious, or intelligent) at least twice, you'll be judged according to it; if you choose three different types of answers, you will instead be judged according to the type that you didn't choose.* PointAndClickMap: Along with the obligatory RandomEncounter.* PointOfNoReturn: The main one is the [[spoiler: failed peace conference]], after which you can no longer visit Tarna, the Simbani Village or the Leopardman Village.* PopCulturePunEpisodeTitle: After the initial release, Sierra was informed that another video game developer had already trademarked the title ''Wages of War''. A re-release was developed with the new subtitle ''Seekers of the Lost City'' (a nod to ''Franchise/IndianaJones''), but before it actually shipped the other company went out of business and Sierra no longer needed to address the trademark issue. However, the About text in ''Shadows of Darkness'' does refer to the previous game as ''Seekers of the Lost City''.* PropRecycling: Parodied with one of the items at the Junk Dealers' tent.--> "You see a genuine, imitation paper-mache moose head, courtesy of the Recycled Prop Department of Sierra On-Line."* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: The crocs and [[MixAndMatchCritters the flying cobras.]]* RevengeBeforeReason - Rakeesh says that going to war over revenge is irrational and will only end in lots of death. He's right, as the people they are fighting turn out to be [[spoiler: demons]].* {{Retcon}}: Rakeesh was said to have killed the Demon that wounded his leg in Quest For Glory II, here it's stated that the [[TheDragon Demon Sorcerer]] was the one that wounded him.* SealedEvilInACan: The Demon Lord. * ShoutOut: ** The Junk Dealers look very similar to Series/{{Sanford|AndSon}}.** As mentioned above, Arne Saknoosen is a reference to ComicBook/{{Cerebus|TheAardvark}}. However, his name comes from JulesVerne's ''Literature/JourneyToTheCenterOfTheEarth''.** Kreesha's bookshelves have a few books with parody titles on them, like [[Literature/GoneWithTheWind Gone With The Wand]].** The Apothecary's theme sounds [[SuspiciouslySimilarSong suspiciously similar]] to "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane.* SiblingYinYang: Rakeesh is reflective and [[RedOniBlueOni prudent]], but he's considered a meek coward by his [[RedOniBlueOni hot-blooded]] brother Rajah.* SoleSurvivor: The only survivor of the peace mission, who has suffered terrible wounds and dies soon after making it back to Tarna.* StealthInsult: Rakeesh, of all people, makes one if the Hero decides to act like a buffoon during an audience with King Rajah.-->'''Rajah:''' Rakeesh, how can you endure [[IdiotHero such an idiot]]?\\'''Rakeesh:''' There are many fools in this world, Rajah, and most have no clue when [[RevengeBeforeReason they behave foolishly]].* SuperPersistentPredator: The dinosaurs that roam the savannah are pretty hard to shake off.** Unless you cheat and jack your movement speed all the way up.* TakeAThirdOption: When the [[DemonicPossession demon Frik possesses Reeshaka]], he says that any harm done to him will kill her. If you don't defend yourself, you'll die. Either way, he'll win. The Hero then throw a dispel potion at him to banish him, leaving Reeshaka unharmed.* TakeYourTime: The Hero is trying to prevent a brewing war between peoples that are on the brink of it and the game keeps track of the days, but there is not time limit for the quest. A relaxation from the events of [=QFG2=], a big TimedMission.* TalkingAnimal: Manu the monkey.* TheTease: Janna Jamir, the woman running the inn, and whom the Hero can flirt with. Some of her dialog is downright ''saucy'', though nothing ever happens between you (for one, she's ''married''. Not that it stops her from being an instigator...) She'll even strike a sexy pose for you when she walks away after you've flirted with her!** Eventually she will inform you that your words no longer have any effect on her, at which point the innuendo-laced dialogue will also stop.* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Lampshaded by Uhura when you meet her at the spear-throwing range; the Simbani use spears rather than swords because spears can be thrown. Still played straight by the Paladin, who must throw his sword at the Demon Wizard at the end of the game.* ToBeLawfulOrGood: The DeliberateValuesDissonance between Liontaurs (Lawful) and Paladins (Good) results in this dilemma after Harami is deemed honorless. Oddly enough, even the ''chief goddess of the Liontaurs'' encourages you to be Good, as her prophecy mentions "One thou hast brought low then helped to rise again."* {{Troll}}: In the soul weighing questions, the last answers are always the worst - and funniest.* UnPerson: Anyone deemed "Without Honor" in Tarna effectively becomes this. Nobody will talk to them or acknowledge their existence, and they can either join a departing caravan or starve to death. Unfortunately, a war tends to shut down the caravans, leaving Harami to starve to death. If the hero apprehends Harami by using magic or throwing a dagger, then the hero is later exonerated of assault because it turns out he harmed "no one".* TheVoice: The Demon Lord is this for paladins. Other classes get to eavesdrop on a conversation between him and the Demon Wizard, but a paladin's only contact with the Demon Lord is as a voice of temptation in his head (which you don't even hear if you seal the gate quickly enough).* VoluntaryShapeshifting: The Leopardmen.* WitchDoctor: The Leopardmen downplay this trope; they ''are'' a tribe of spellcasters who dwell in DarkestAfrica, and their Shaman seems to be more willing and able to summon demons than other spellcasters, but otherwise they're not much different than magic users of any other culture, and there's no explicit HollywoodVoodoo.* WizardDuel: ** The Wizard has a formal one with the Leopardmen Shaman. It's deliberately stacked against you: you're not allowed to attack him directly, but he can attack you all he wants. The point isn't to kill the Shaman, but to endure his attacks with your utility spells until he [[spoiler: loses his temper and summons a demon to possess him and kill you for your "arrogance".]]** A similar duel is possible against the Demon Wizard, where he will fire spells at you that can be countered. It only buys some time; you must quickly do something that puts ''him'' on the defensive.* WorldTree: The tree in the heart of the world.* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: You finally get the two tribes together, and Tarna is willing to stand in as a mediator. So far so good. [[spoiler: Too bad that demons then make the two leaders kill each other.]]